New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins – NYR wins 2-1, NYR wins series 3-2
This would be the first Game 7 of the second round and in big games, the big names are the one who should draw attention. For me, it would be whether Sidney Crosby or Rick Nash would be able to break out of their respective slumps. The two stars had one goal between them going in to Game 7 (in 25 combined games) though they had 62 goals between them during the regular season. Granted, there’s some bad luck here because each player shot over 10-percent during the regular season yet were held to just 1.2-percent combined through the playoffs. With that said, it’s asking a lot for a team to win series after series in the NHL Playoffs without significant contributions from their respective stars.
Crosby had a couple of chances on the same shift in the first period but missed a bouncing puck on his backhand and then was stopped point-blank by Henrik Lundqvist. Rick Nash also had an opportunity where instead of driving wide on a turning Pittsburgh defenseman, he pulled up and took a long distance shot that was blocked. The only goal of the period was by Rangers fourth liner Brian Boyle. Both Nash and Crosby were on the ice for four shot attempts against (and Crosby finished the much better overall possession played at 60-percent to Nash’s 42.9-percent).
Each team would score a goal in the second period though neither Nash nor Crosby would have a point on either of them. Crosby would have a plus-8 shot attempt differential, fairly indicative of how the play went through forty minutes. Pittsburgh was getting chances but Lundqvist was making saves. Nash had the fourth-fewest 5-on-5 minutes among Rangers forwards, a little over eight and a half, as it appeared even his coach was losing faith in him.
The score would hold for the third period and the difference in the game would be a goaltender they call The King. Lundqvist would save 35 of 36 shots, including two off the stick of Crosby, for the win. Crosby finished the game with a 66.7-percent CorsiFor but of course, no points.
Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild – CHI wins 2-1 (OT), CHI wins series 4-2
The Blackhawks would have the chance to close the series out on the road but had already lost twice in Minnesota. The onus tonight would be on either goaltender to win a game for their respective teams. Ilya Bryzgalov had managed just an .877 save percentage so far these playoffs. The only reason the Wild had been able to win games this series was because they were consistently limiting Chicago to very few shots. Meanwhile, Corey Crawford allowed seven goals in the two games in Minnesota. If the Wild could manage to keep the Blackhawks to a couple of goals, it would be up to Crawford to reverse the trend he started in Games 3 and 4.
There was a 30-second sequence in the second period where Patrick Sharp got behind the Wild defense for a breakaway. Bryzgalov was equal to the test, making a nice pad save on a deke. Not very long after, Justin Fontaine got in alone on Crawford but he, too, would make a key save, this time on a wrist shot to the glove side. Considering how tight the games have been for the most part this series, those were two key saves at a time it could have given either team a lead going towards the second half of the game. Crawford made another big save, this time on a Cody McCormick partial breakaway, with a little over five minutes left. With a little over three minutes left, Crawford made two saves on another Fontaine partial breakaway. Should the Blackhawks win this game, it would be because of Corey Crawford.
Like Carey Price in Game 6 for Montreal, being a little lucky didn’t hurt Corey Crawford. While Chicago was killing a delay of game penalty near the mid-point of the third period, Mikael Granlund rang one off the crossbar from the slot. Bryzgalov wasn’t in need of that kind of luck just yet, as the ‘Hawks went through the first 12 minutes of the period without a shot.
The two teams would go to overtime with the goalies combining for a .962 save percentage through 60 minutes.
Presumably, a bad bounce was what it took to end the game. A shoot-in by Seabrook bounced off a partition behind the net and landed right on the stick of Patrick Kane, who went under the crossbar for the series-clincher.
Both goalies played very well in this game but it was truly Corey Crawford who stole the show. He made several marvelous saves, particularly in the second period, and stopped 34 of 35 overall. That performance would raise his playoff save percentage to .931 through the first two rounds. He had a .932 save percentage for Chicago’s Cup run last year.
*as always, thanks to ExtraSkater.com for their resources
